Our History
These items were all sold at the roadside and 3 acres of cucumbers were planted for Rose Brand Pickles as a cash crop to help pay for the land. Three years later, Royal City Nursery was born.
The plant material assets of Gaylord Nursery on Victoria Rd. just down the street from Victoria Rd Golf Course (East) were bought, giving us a substantial start with plant material. As we began to transplant them to our own location, the first tree planted was a Golden Weeping Willow, the very next morning it was lying flat on the ground. A great omen for this new business venture!
That same year, a 9' x 12' shack was built to serve as a store and Cox Construction came in with their huge loaders and graders to build the parking lot.
In order to save money a shade house or Lath House as it is called was built out of cedar logs from a friends bush just outside of Durham. This was functional and looked very rustic until it collapsed 15 years later under a heavy snow load. In 1977 the existing building was erected.
Because of the impending highway expansion, the building had to be easily portable and a pole barn style was suggested. This building is screwed together rather that nailed so that it could come apart fairly easily. The foundation of the building is a number of 6" x 6" X 16' poles on concrete 4' in the ground.
At that time, trees and shrubs were the main stay of our sales together with soil amendments, fertilizer and a few chemicals. Juergen always maintained a Nursery sells plants - nothing else!
In 1986 Peter and his wife Doreen joined the partnership and things really started to change. As the traditional thought of the garden started to transform, the product lines; expanded to include fountains, Arbours, statuary and even a Christmas Wonderland operated from October to December.
By the mid 1990's, Tanya and Leah (our daughters) and the lines are expanding even more at a greater depth and speed. Now we don't just sell plants and assorted items, we sell a life style. Indoor and Outdoor living spaces have become the mainstay of our business. We used to be 95% Trees and Shrubs now we are only 30% Trees and Shrubs and a whole lot of other things to fill in the other 70% including the one of the best kept secrets in town: our Gift Shoppe.
It really is one of the most extensive gift and home décor collections in the tri-city area. Make sure you visit regularly, we love hosting you! Enjoy the great outdoors
See you soon, regards
Doreen, Peter, and our little grandson; Reed
